Charlotte House and Cadogan House Royal Masonic School with Chorleywood Bookshop

Friday saw us leaving the flat at 6.30am to walk the short distance to a hotel around the corner to drop off our bags. We were pleased that the rain held off and the morning ran smoothly, particularly as it was bucketing down not long afterwards. We met Tilda Johnson at Marylebone Station - although I think we walked past each other several times and at one stage I commented to Ian that perhaps the lovely red haired girl who'd just walked past us was Tilda but as we'd never met before I was reluctant to say anything until the appointed meeting time!

Tilda is an editorial assistant and has up until recently worked for David Fickling in Oxford.  She is a gem - and very knowledgeable about publishing.  It was a delight to have her with us for the day.

We were met at the station in Rickmansworth by Sheryl who we'd met in February.  She drove us the short distance to Charlotte House Prep School where we were again greeted by the lovely Sallyann O'Dell and Headmistress Jane Mitchell.  Jane has done amazing things increasing enrolments in just her first year and the school is one that has such a lovely feel, I could work there in a heartbeat.

The girls were just as gorgeous this time as on the previous occasion.  It was so much fun talking to them and there were lots of great questions about the books and writing in general.  The muddy boots were still as I remembered them in the cubby holes in the corridors - I love that the girls play outside whatever the weather!

It was wonderful to reconnect with girls who had been introduced to Alice-Miranda earlier in the year and it was clear that a number of them had become ardent fans. Benedicta told me she had read all four of her Alice-Miranda books eight times each.  She recorded a wonderful request to Random House UK, which I will try to upload to the blog.

We left Charlotte House with Morag who is Sheryl's partner in the shop and went to Chorleywood where we had time for a coffee and a chat before having a look around their gorgeous bookshop.  It's a really sweet village.  We loved that there are life sized cut outs of some of our most favourite Downton Abbey stars in the shop at the moment as part of a promotion - Tilda and I had some fun having pictures with them.  I think Tilda was far more successful with her Downton look than I was!

Morag dropped us off at a lovely pub where we had lunch before going to Cadogan House, the Junior School at Royal Masonic School.  We were greeted by Shirley Drummond, who I had met previously.  It was so lovely to see her too.  Cadogan House is another of those gorgeous schools you'd just love to work in.  The girls were extremely excited about the visit and meeting Clementine Rose and I loved that even the tiniest children - Prep (who are mostly 4 and 5) came along with the intention of staying for a little while - but they stayed the whole time.  There was only one small hiccup when a little one right in front of me nodded off - we were more concerned about her hitting her head on the floor.  The children participated in the drama activities with great enthusiasm and the book buying line at the end of the day wound the full length of the hall and some.  Girls were bringing their parents back in at the end of school to add some more books to their collections.  I'm so thrilled that I will get to go back to the school in a couple of week's time to work with some of the students on writing projects too.

Just Imagine - what a fabulous place!

I was really excited to be going to Chelmsford in Essex yesterday to visit a place called Just Imagine. After reading their website and seeing the vast number of exciting things founder, Nikki Gamble and her team were doing with regards to children's literature and the integration of teachers' professional development, book fairs, author presentations in schools and a shop front too, I couldn't wait to see it for myself and meet everyone.

This time the journey from the flat to the station was completely uneventful, on time and unexpectedly luxurious.  I'm not sure if any words had been exchanged about the previous day's dilemma but I was very surprised to be picked up by one of the VIP cars - an enormous Mercedes that a small family might have camped in the back of.  The driver, Ian was charm personified.  I asked him who the most famous VIP he'd driven was and he said, 'my daughter would say it was Victoria Beckham', who he reported was very sweet and friendly.  Good to know the ice queen persona is reserved for the paps.

After arriving at Liverpool Street Station in style I quickly found Rachel Lawston, who is a designer at RH and works on Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose, doing a wonderful job with the covers.  We headed for the train and within an hour arrived in drizzly conditions at Just Imagine in Chelmsford, Essex.  The shop front is gorgeous and a hint of even more gorgeousness to come inside.  Apologies for the terrible photo taken from the other side of the road but it's the blue shopfront.

On Saturday's the shop is open to the public.  There's a fabulous meeting room space upstairs and children's area downstairs where they have events and parties - and go to an enormous amount of trouble to create beautiful themes.  Halloween was just being packed up and The Polar Express was on it's way in. 

Nikki Gamble is one of the warmest people I've met in a long time.  She's so passionate about her work - it's completely infectious and after meeting some of the team members we headed across the road for a bite of lunch and a chat.  I think I found a kindred spirit.  As a former teacher (I hate saying former, because I will be a teacher for all of my life - just in different guises to the regular classroom job), talking with Nikki, who is a professor who works with student teachers, among many other strings to her bow, was wonderful.  We ranged over lots of things then headed back to the shop where Nikki turned on the voice recorder and we talked for another couple of hours.  She was especially interested in the interconnections for me between teaching and writing and how one has informed the other.  I couldn't believe the time just sped by and we were then joined by a small group of teacher reviewers who work with Nikki to read and review the latest books and spread the word through their schools channels.

They were a great group - I really appreciated them coming along on a dreary night in the middle of the week.  I got to tell some stories and introduce them to my characters and we talked about some of the amazing Australian authors and illustrators whose work is reaching children in the UK.  I was thrilled to see Shaun Tan's latest book sitting proudly on the shelf as I walked into the shop.  They love Leigh Hobbs, Margaret Wild, Morris Gleitzman, Roland Harvey and lots more - and we love them too of course!

I cannot wait to work with Nikki and her team in the future - I think we can do some great things and I really loved meeting Sam, Kathleen, Georgia and Caroline too  - what an inspiring bunch!  It takes courage to set up something like this in a difficult marketplace with so much doom and gloom around the book industry.  Nikki's model is encompassing and her approach, incorporating all aspects of education from the grass roots of teacher training to professional development for experienced teachers, events, book fairs and so much more is fantastic - I suspect exhausting at times but so valuable.  Essex is fortunate to have this place - but I don't think its reach is limited to that county. I was so thrilled that I was able to visit - what a wonderful day.  Thanks Nikki!

Sarum Hall and Highgate Junior School

On Monday we had a delicious lunch with the team from Random House at Ealing.  It was wonderful to see Philippa, Annie, Barry, Natalie, Charlotte and Rachel again and great to meet Jasmine who is a new addition to the publicity team since we were here last and has been working on the tour.  Having the opportunity to discuss ideas and where we take things from here was terrific and we're looking forward to another strategy meeting in the next few weeks.

I was so excited to be heading back to Sarum Hall on Tuesday morning.  It's a gorgeous school for girls in Belsize Park.  I've visited there twice before and the girls have always been a most appreciative audience.  This time did not disappoint either - although it was a little bit hairy getting there with our driver caught completely unaware of the state visit by the President of South Korea.  I googled road closures in London and found the problem after we'd done three laps of the Westminster Abbey roundabout.  He was most apologetic and in the end we arrived with a couple of minutes to spare.  My UK editor, Natalie met Ian and I there with Kate Agnew who runs the Children's Bookshop at Muswell Hill.  Kate has been a fabulous supporter of Alice-Miranda since the beginning and it was lovely to see her again and spend the whole day together.  We're hoping to visit the shop on the weekend too.

Sarum Hall is currently building the most beautiful playhouse like structure in the back garden - which although like a Wendy House will be big enough to accommodate classes and lessons.  Can't wait to see it when it's finished.  It was great to see Tina Pritchard again - she's one of the teachers and a big fan of Alice-Miranda.  I signed lots of books for the girls at the end of the session before we headed off towards the Hampstead Heath.  We'd been hoping to have lunch at The Heath but the weather was grey and wet so we opted to get some sandwiches instead and go straight to the school where we could eat in the comfort of the library work room.

Highgate is a very old school.  It was founded in 1565 and occupies a vast site near the Hampstead Heath in North London.  They are about to embark on a complete rebuild of their junior school and are currently building an enormous temporary school on the other side of the field.

Librarian, Penny Casey was so lovely and welcoming and after lunch we headed down to one of the halls where the students from Year 2, 3 and 4 arrived soon after.  The children were fantastic and so much fun to interact with.  They were keen participants in my drama auditions and very enthusiastic book buyers too.  I hope to go back there again next year - perhaps to do some teaching of writing too.

The trip back to town was uneventful and that night we met a friend for dinner down at St Katharine Docks right beside the Tower Bridge.  It's a great spot and perhaps a little hidden from the tourists.

Matilda. The Tate and beautiful blue skies

I can't believe we've been in London for six days already.  The time has flown and I've loved every minute.  This morning I wanted to catch up on the blog before we head off to a day of events in Coventry.  After arriving and getting settled last Friday, I spent Saturday reading through the page proofs of Alice-Miranda in Japan.  I was determined to get it done as we were heading off to see Matilda the Musical in the evening.  Saturday was a beautiful blue sky day and sitting in the flat it was gorgeous to look out and see the sun.  It was the next best thing to being out there!

We headed into the city about half past five to find somewhere to eat.  I am always blown away by the sheer number of people on the street in London on Saturday night (and especially around the West End) - this was just an ordinary Saturday night but it's like Sydney on New Year's Eve!  We found the Cambridge Theatre and picked up our tickets before heading off to dinner.  There are so many restaurants close by, we had no trouble finding a table at a place called Belgo - which is a Belgian chain.  Their Covent Garden restaurant is in a cellar divided into two  - one side a beer hall style venue and the other a more intimate room.  We joined the crowd in the beer hall.  Food was good value and the service was speedy.  In fact it was too fast and we wound up walking around for half an hour before the show.  A brisk wind had sprung up and we were glad to get inside again.

The Cambridge Theatre is by no means a glamorous venue.  It reminded me a little of the movie theatre at Avoca Beach with an even flatter floor.  The set was suitably child like and the theatre, as you'd expect was brimming with kids and their parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  But there were plenty of adults sans kids too. 

The storyline meanders in and out of the book, with some obvious variations (Miss Honey's father in the book is a doctor and in the musical he's an escapologist and her mother is an acrobat).  The way this is woven into the story with Mrs Phelps, the Librarian is brilliant.  Mrs Wormwood's bingo vices have been changed to ballroom dancing (some political correctness there I think) but she was amazing.  Harry Wormwood was suitably slimy and Matilda's brother was even more stupid than he comes across in the book or the film.  The cast was incredible and The Trunchbull, played by a man, was terrifying and funny at the same time.  There are some fun special effects which had the audience gasping and the lasers could be problematic for some (I do wonder if very small children might find the whole thing a little scary).  The little girl who played Matilda that night (there are four of them who share the role) was one of the most incredible child actors I've ever seen.  She sang like an angel too.  Her name is Lollie McKenzie.  For me the character I was least taken with in some ways and yet in the book and movie I adored her, was Miss Honey.  I'm still wondering why that is, because she's shy and scared in both the other versions just as she is in this.  The woman playing her sings beautifully and is a great dancer too but she just didn't click as much for me.  Still thinking...

Anyway, if you are in London or New York and have the opportunity to see Matilda I wouldn't hesitate.  I'm hoping that it comes to Australia so I can take my nephews and niece too.

Sunday morning dawned bright and blue and Ian and I headed off early for a walk along The Thames.  We wound up at The Tate Gallery for breakfast.  I was so pleased we went there.  The walk through British art over the centuries is fabulous and I was especially thrilled to see the permanent Turner, Constable and Blake exhibitions  It also got me thinking about a new Alice-Miranda adventure.

We then headed way over to the other side of the city to The Shard (hoping to get a table for lunch).  Ian had been trying to call the restaurants all morning to no avail and when we got there they said that they were having trouble with the phones.  So, against all hope it seemed it might still be possible to get a table.  We took the lift up - the view is stunning, and enquired at the restaurant to the right.  Alas they had nothing.  Just as we entered the restaurant on the left, another woman beat us to the hostess and nabbed the last table!  Never mind.  We enjoyed another long walk near the Tower Bridge and found somewhere else to eat with a view of the river.  We might try again this weekend but will book this time!

We walked all the way back into the city to Piccadilly and had a bit of a look around before heading back to the flat and another read through of the proofs.

It was a lovely weekend - I hope the weather stays blue at least for part of the time - any more than that would be greedy!

SJI, UWC Dover, The Canadian International School and more

I've now arrived in London after a busy second week in Singapore.  On Tuesday I spent the day teaching writing at St Joseph's International School with the students from Year 5 and Year 2.  The children were delightful and they produced some great work over the course of the day.  SJI is a relatively new school but is extremely well resourced and in the secondary school is attended by many local students as well as expat children. I went there last time I was in Singapore and was really taken by the warmth and professionalism of Louise and Deidre, the Head and Deputy Head of the Junior School.  It was great to go back again.  One of the teachers presented me with a card from her niece who lives in the UK, telling me of her love of Alice-Miranda - it's so lovely when things like that happen.

Wednesday saw me at UWC Dover where I was working with Year 3 and the fabulous librarian Pamela Males.  Again I had met Pam last time I was in Singapore and really loved the feeling at UWC.  I had a ball working with the Grade 3 students and their teachers (equivalent of Year 4 Australia).  The children produced some great writing too.

Pam's library displays are fabulous and you can't help feel very welcome when there are whole walls dedicated to your visit.

On Wednesday night Sarah and I met up with Dave Seow and we headed down to Clarke Quay for dinner and a walk.  Dave is so much fun to spend time with and he and Sarah then arranged to take a walk to the Botanic Gardens on Thursday morning.  We ate at a place called Indochine - Thai inspired food so a little different to what we had been eating at other times.

The area around Clarke Quay used to be quite down at heel but now it's a bustling hub of activity with lots of places to eat and other entertainment on offer.  There's a reverse bungy for the more adventurous (not me that night) and you can also take trips along the river from there in one of the traditional boats.

After Clarke Quay we caught a taxi over to Little India to see the lights for Deepavali (or Divali as we more commonly say in Australia).  They were so pretty.  Little India is busy, and has the most amazing smells - with so many great restaurants it will definitely be on my list of places to eat next time I'm in Singapore.

There is a department store there called Mustafa's which is the only 24 hour department store in the city.  We didn't get there though because after a week of wearing the same shoes (which are usually quite comfortable but by this stage were having a rebellion against the humidity), my feet were so swollen that walking was proving very difficult.  Next time.

Thursday was a busy day with four sessions at the Canadian International School - two at the very beautiful purpose built Lakeside Campus and two at the older and smaller Tanjong Katong Campus.  Both were fabulous and I had such a warm welcome from Lisa and Isabel the Junior School Librarian and Head of Library at Lakeside - which has one of the most incredible librarians I have every seen.  Set over two floors it's literally breathtaking.  The 500 seat theatre where I talked to the children was right beside the library and is a magnificent facility too.

I was telling Lisa that there was possibly a student there who I had met on my previous visit to Singapore.  I couldn't remember the little girl's name but her mother is an Australian diplomat.  I couldn't believe it when I picked one of the children to come out the front and do some drama and the little girl said, 'you've met me before - I'm

Sasha.'  Seriously what were the chances of that happening in an audience of 500.  She was stunningly good at the role too - I haven't heard a piercing scream that loud in years!

We had a delicious lunch in the cafeteria where the school was hosting visiting chefs.  I had chicken pad Thai.  The cafeteria is huge too and it was great to see lots of the older students dressed up for Halloween.  There had been a Halloween dance the night before too which is apparently always fantastic.

The Tanjong Katong Campus is not too far away.  The librarian, Audrey had arrived in the position from Canada in August and told me she was struggling with the heat a little - I can imagine, seeing that the school is set over four storeys and there is no lift.  I was struggling too by the time we reached the classroom at the top.  Audrey was lovely and very excited about my visit.

I talked with a much smaller group of children but certainly no less enthusiastic.  They were fabulous and it was a fitting end to the tour.  While I was giving the talk there was a huge thunderstorm - the clap of thunder and lightning made me leap into the air which gave the kids a good giggle.

Cheryle and I then headed back to Bookaburra to sign some more books and complete some orders.  I have been so thrilled with the book sales on this trip and apparently the book fair at the local school, CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity was something to behold.

Sarah and David had a great walk to the Botanic Gardens and saw the orchids, which I hope to get to next time I'm there. 

Wonderful Cheryle drove Sarah and me to the airport where we had a fabulous dinner before saying goodbye to Sarah who was catching a very late plane home to Sydney and I was going to another terminal to meet Ian before heading to London.

I have really fallen in love with Singapore.  It's a beautiful place, safe and lots to do, with amazing people and an enviable lifestyle.  I can't wait to go back again and will be planning a longer trip probably around the same time next year.

It was great to see my gorgeous husband as he got off the plane from Sydney about 9pm.  We had a while to wait before we boarded for London.  The flight was just that way I like it - uneventful and I managed to sleep quite well - I'm definitely getting better at that.

We arrived in London at 5.15am and met up with Charlotte, one of the fabulous publicists from RHUK.  We went to breakfast at a stunning place called Daylesford - a café in Pimlico.  The shop is gorgeous and is quite like a farm shop that you'd find outside of London.  The food was beautiful although there was some unexpected excitement when one of the light globes exploded overhead, showering glass all over the place.  Fortunately we were sitting away but I felt for the two women  who were almost underneath it.  It was a bit of a shock.

Ian and I then went for a walk to Victoria Station and down towards Buckingham Palace.  We were trying to adjust to the time zone and climate.  It was quite mild for this time of year - about 13 degrees.  We decided to have a look through the Palace Mews and met some of the Queen's beautiful horses and saw the carriages, cars and the facilities of the working stables adjacent to the palace.  The gold coronation coach is something to see - it's over 400 years old and has been used for every coronation since it was built.  It weighs four tonnes and they have to spend about three days taking the room apart in order to get it out of the stables.

 

We arrived at the RH flat just after 1pm and spent the next few hours getting organised for the week ahead.  I managed to stay awake most of the afternoon and get a good night's sleep.  Today was grey to begin with but the sun is now shining and Ian reported that it's not too cold out either.  I've been catching up on emails and the blog and am about to start the final page proofs for Alice-Miranda In Japan.  Tonight I am so excited that we are going to see Matilda the Musical.  A full report to come!